Coffee, Please, Bitter and Sweet

Coffee in hand, my bald headed companion takes a seat next to me. It has been a long day of job-hunting, and he is ready to relax for the night, before resuming the task tomorrow.

However, tomorrow is Friday, which makes it easier for him to trudge through the day. Fridays are the days that my friend has his son, a cheeky five year old that still has some trouble pronouncing his r`s. The thought of his son`s dimply smile and playing army guys all day Saturday, are what keeps my friend going throughout the rest of the week.

I live for my son, at this point, " my friend comments, referring to the $600 a month he pays in child support.

Yes, $600 a month, for a loving father who devotes his life to Friday`s. There are dead beat dads out there that don`t pay half that much monthly. Even during his unemployment stint, he faithfully pays his child support; the thought of an orange jump suit prevents him from even being late. His son`s mother has rampaged the courts for his arrest for being late before, and he is sure she won`t hesitate to do it again.

That`s the problem with society. Everyone is out to screw everyone else. People find their success these days by making others fail. The common welfare of society is no longer anyone`s concern. Not even the government. I`m scared that society is going to get a hold of my son. I try and teach him right. There are some basic rules in life, like don`t lie. I teach him to respect his mom and treat women in general right "..everyone really. I hope that he picks up enough from me to live his life right. Hopefully he`ll understand how. I try and set the example by living right, and working hard. I hope he can recognize that one day. "

Respect, my friend says, is the most important thing he wants his son to learn, and rightfully so. Americans live in a society fearing the government, but not because they respect it. They fear it because it can make their lives even more difficult, because they are forcing people farther down the class system by raising the cost of living and offering no help.

While it is the Middle Americans that have created the country, they are quickly being replaced by immigrants, and exporting countries. Our nation is beginning to reek of desperation; and it can be seen every day, everywhere. People rob banks and kill each other because of desperation, because like all Middle Americans, they see no hope for change. Their hard earned money, taken mostly in taxes, isn`t even being given back to them.

They give all our money to poor people who end up mooching off of the system, and to immigrants who give nothing back to the country because they send it back to their poor countries. The people that founded this country, that built this country, are being forced into poverty. The people that spent their lives working to support and build America into prosperity are being denied the ability to be successful because of people that walked in and said, I`m poor, I`m from a poor country. Help me ", my friend quips.

Sure, these people from third world nations need help, but should we sacrifice an entire nation for them? No.

Like most Middle Americans, he has little faith in the system. He believes that you cannot save an entire class of people, especially when racism comes in to play. It seems as if the concept has come full circle, and now exists against average white male.

I was on the internet looking at business grants, and found out that a black person can get a grant, a Hispanic can get a grant, a woman can get a grant, but there is nothing for a Middle Class White Man. I mean, I grew up in Newburgh, on the lower end of the middle class, and there is still nothing for me. It`s the minority " groups, such as African Americans and Hispanics, which are being given more assistance in succeeding because of their race. How is that fair? "

How do you reverse decades of this political correctness "? How do you change something that is well meaning, but is still discrimination? Aren`t these standards of being a minority promoting special treatment for different races?

Unfortunately, like the average Middle American, my friend has simply embraced the life that he has been given. He won`t go to school, because he`d rather be in debt for necessities like a house, and car. He`ll vote, but don`t expect to see him at a political protest because nothing short of a riot will make a difference.

Instead he`ll be working two jobs to take care of his son and himself, and avoiding listening to politicians talk about being "regular` guys. Because he is a regular guy, and as far as he is concerned, the politicians don`t know s(h)it about my life."

Ask the man with a couple million how much it takes to fill their gas tank, and they don`t know. Ask my friend, and he`ll tell you he has no idea when the last time he could afford to fill it was.

As for my future as a Middle American "..I`m going to plead the fifth on that one. "

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